Hennessey Sets New Christmas Tree Run Record With 2026 Corvette ZR1

Hennessey, the Texas-based hypercar manufacturer and high-performance vehicle creator, has set a new festive record, taking a 5 1/2-foot Christmas tree to 196 mph on the roof of the new 2026 1,064-bhp Chevrolet C8 Corvette ZR1. Set on the runway at Chase Field in Beeville, Texas, the Hennessey achievement is believed to be the fastest ever speed achieved by a road-legal car carrying a Christmas tree, company officials stated in a press release.

The record speed was set with the ZR1-mounted tree adorned with more than 200 lights and holiday ribbon. This is the seventh Hennessey Christmas Tree Run and the third piloted by professional driver Spencer Geswein. This season’s speed record surpassed the company’s own 192-mph record set in 2022 with a Hennessey Venom 1000 Ford Mustang, noted the release.

“Hennessey’s Christmas Tree Run has evolved from a crazy little holiday stunt into one of the most fun traditions,” said Alex Roys, Hennessey president. “Every year, we strap a tree to something a little wilder and a little faster. It’s the kind of event that reminds you why this whole thing started—because cars should be loud, fun and just a little bit unhinged. Running the 2026 Corvette ZR1 was a perfect finale to another amazing year for the Hennessey team.”

The New 2026 Corvette ZR1

This year’s Christmas Tree Run starred the new 2026 Corvette ZR1, which is widely regarded as one of the most compelling performance vehicles on the market today, the company said. Chevrolet’s flagship model is powered by a twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter flat-plane crank V-8 engine that produces 1,064 hp and 828 lb-ft of torque.

Geswein, having previously piloted Hennessey’s Venom 1000 Mustang GT500 to 192 mph in 2022 and the 1,817-bhp Venom F5 to over 270 mph in a 2022 test run, delivered a run that topped out just shy of 200 mph. The Hennessey team also tested the fully optioned C8 ZR1 ZTK track pack car without the tree and managed 206 mph before running out of runway.

A History of Hennessey Christmas Tree Speed Runs

Hennessey says the Christmas Tree Run has often been a hallmark of its year-end celebrations, with each pairing of car and tree raising the bar for speed and spectacle. Starting in 2017 with a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody, Hennessey set the tree-topped speed at 174 mph, and each run since then has pushed to beat the previous record.

Christmas Tree Run Vehicles